‘Scandal’ Recap: Season 3, Episode 14, ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’

The answer to “Who got shot?” was answered quickly this week on “Scandal,” but a bigger question popped up: who are the truly evil people on this show?

Jake shot two randoms and our beloved James in cold blood. He terrified our sweet, sweet David into complicity. And he yelled at Liv, a thing no man does unless his name is Fitz or Papa Pope. Jake has taken ownership of his role as Command and defined it on his own terms, which means he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty by digging some graves. But will all that grunt work come at the price of his soul?

Watching Scott Foley morph this character from Stalker Navy Guy into an almost too-good-to-be-true love interest into a take-no-prisoners murderer has been fascinating. And it’s a credit to both Foley and Shonda Rhimes’s writing that it all made sense. He’d been broken down by Papa Pope, redeemed by Liv and then broken down again after she breaks his heart. So, like Cyrus, he works through his pain.

There are glimmers of hope for the man who now runs B6-13. After he shot James, he explained to him that it had to be messy and stayed with him as he gasped his last breath. I wasn’t fully prepared for the humanity/sadism in that scene. On one hand, you have our rom-com hero doing the decent thing and staying with a man as he dies. On the other, our hero is the cause of James’s death and is calmly watching as he struggles for his last breath. Like Quinn, Jake may not be completely broken, but he’s getting awfully close.

Quinn, however, is easing into her B6-13 skin with her new boo, Charlie. They’re out intimidating mechanics into taking the fall for murder. She’s walking back into her house and Spidey-sensing Huck’s presence. And she’s even got the gall to spit in Huck’s face, a little payback for him licking hers. You go, Quinn (the first time I’ve ever typed those words)! So with all this power-girl mentality, how did she slip into a smoochfest with our favorite assassin?

Huck taught her everything she knows. When he saw her on the safe camera, he was ready to make work of his toolbox of pain on the rest of her incisors. Instead, he put two and two together and realized she was actually helping the Gladiators. Quinn hadn’t doffed her white hat after all. Aw. Instead of a congratulatory high five, Huck decided to attack-kiss her. Quinn and Huck have no romantic chemistry. None. Let’s not make this a thing, “Scandal.”

If the show wants to fire up a new relationship, the one between Mellie and Andy is one to root for. We know it could never work in the long run. They’re both trying to get Fitz re-elected and curry favor with his base. Mellie is a great politician, but the only person who appreciates that is Andy. Having Fitz’s relationship with Liv repeatedly thrown in her face, I’m surprised she didn’t step out on him sooner. It’s easy to see what drew Fitz to Mellie in the first place when she’s around Andy. “It’s a shame…that he can’t see you the way I do,” he slurs to her over drinks. That’s all it takes for her to let down her resolve and they have sex on the White House floor. You go, Mellie! Get some respect.

That’s a lot better than the utter fear encasing David. Jake let him go so he could clean up the investigation into James’ murder. But why is a U.S. attorney investigating a car jacking? Isn’t that something Capital police would handle? Despite that nonsensical plot, David is stalling the investigation because he doesn’t like the stain it makes on his white hat. Abby’s own Spidey senses start tingling and she knows something has shaken him. After yelling “danger or trouble” at him, Abby tells him their relationship only works if he shares his burden; so he unloads about James’ murder, the cover up and his own survivor’s guilt. He doesn’t name Jake, but Abby’s smart. She know’s her boo is in over his head.

It’s all too much to bear. Olivia—with the speed of an SNL skit—put it all together that James wasn’t car jacked just by noticing a missing reporter in the press room. She asks Jake for help, but is then confronted with the truth that her ex killed her best friend’s husband and two other women. “I am protecting the republic. It’s my job. I’m Command!” he tells her, sounding just like Papa Pope. He was so reminiscent of her father, that she had to go to the original for guidance.

Kerry Washington has some of her best scenes with Joe Morton, and this one was no exception. Papa Pope made his one appearance this episode to doff his evil ruler cap and played Dad for a few minutes, offering his daughter some words of wisdom: When you are Command, “you are responsible. So you become the hand of God.” Morton, who slays every time he is on screen, floored me in this scene. It wasn’t his usual blustery, scenery chewing. He went at it as a father explaining the wear and tear his job took on him and will take on Jake. Papa Pope knows that being Command will turn Jake into a monster, but he’s still worth saving. “Everyone is worth saving,” he tells her. “At least I’d like to think that is the point of you.” And with that, he took his Dad cap back off.

The first person Liv goes to save is Cyrus, who has thrown himself back into work. Liv tries to be a supportive friend but still doesn’t tell him the truth about James. When our resident monster-in-chief got idle hands, he started to think about James: their meet-cute at a bar with Cyrus’s neck beard, their adorable chat when James outs him on the campaign trail, their first kiss during Fitz’s speech and their first real fight during the inauguration ball. To keep those thoughts at bay, he focused on the campaign and yelling at his assistant Ethan. But when it came time to brief the press on the capture of his husband’s murderer, Cyrus breaks down for the first time. It was heartbreaking. James allowed him to truly be himself and now he’s gone. Fitz helps his friend back into the office while Liv finishes the press briefing.

Lying to her friend like that was the way Liv chose to fight her war against B6-13. During a meeting with David, she tells him he has to go along with Jake’s plan to cover up James’s murder. Jake’s not the enemy; B6-13 is. Liv and David form an army of two to bring down the entire organization. Do they even know the reach of the organization? And who calls the shots beyond command? Good luck, guys!

Side thoughts:

* Fitz was mostly tolerable this episode, save for his ignoring the chance to thank Mellie for her hard work. In flashbacks, he was his most decent when he supported Cyrus’s new relationship without knowing it was with another man. Fitz gave a sense that he knew, but allowed Cyrus the dignity of coming out in his own way.

* Now that Sally’s over her “the devil made me do it” kick, she’s in full-on campaign mode. She and Leo have been able to pull the gun lobby, but it sounds like Fitz is gaining ground with gun-control advocates.

* Mama Pope is killing fake Russians with horrible beards, making requests to meet some dude named Ivan and scaring the living daylights out of Adnan Salif. “I don’t make bombs, I make money.” Okay, then, Mama Pope.

So what did you think? Do you think all parent-child/co-worker relationships require you to wear different caps at different times? How high up the food chain to Liv and David have to go to bring down B6-13? And what prop will they use next week to cover Kerry Washington’s baby bump?